Clothing Care: Garment Cleaning

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Garment Cleaning

Dry Cleaning

• Dry clean garments sparingly. Once a season or whenever it gets soiled is usually enough. Excessive dry cleaning could shrink a garment. Wool, like hair can be burned by overexposure to chemicals. Excessive dry cleaning can also give a shiny appearance.
   
• Dry Cleaning is by definition, cleaning with solvents and little or no water. The combination of solvents and heat is hard on fabrics and may cause as much wear as actual wearing of the garment.
   
• Dry cleaned garments should be taken out of the plastic bags and aired after dry cleaning.
   
• Pressing after cleaning should also be considered. Most anyone can press wool pants but it takes a skilled professional presser to do a quality job on linen and silk items.
   
• Linen can withstand higher heat when ironed, and should be pressed when damp.
   
• Silk requires a lower temperature iron and should be steam ironed, preferably with a press cloth.
   
• Wool should be pressed with steam and a moderate temperature.
   
• Packaging of the cleaned garment is also important. A garment can be cleaned and pressed well but if it is jammed into a small bag, it can become a wrinkled mess. Jamming too many finished and bagged garments into the dry cleaners rack can also wrinkle finished garments.
   
• Finally, develop a dialogue with your dry cleaner. Note the type of stains that you have on your garment and list it for the dry cleaner. Their pre-spotting will help eliminate stains that could otherwise be heat set after the garment is cleaned.

Laundering

• Professional laundering is offered by most dry cleaners. Some of the laundering is done with very hot water which may shrink the interfacing or stiffening used in collars and cuffs.
   
• Starching shirts and other cotton or cotton/polyester garments is common. The basic function of starch is to stiffen the garment. Incidental use is to prevent stains from penetrating the fiber. However, starch leaves minute crystals in the fiber and can often wear the garment out faster than a garment that has not been starched. The choice is then appearance versus longer life for your garment.
   
• Home Laundering is not only easier to control but can add life to your garments.
   
• General purpose laundry detergents work well on most washable fabrics. 
   
• Chlorine bleaches can safely be used on cotton, cotton/polyester and some man made fabrics.
   
• Hand washing detergents can be used for home laundry when cleaning fine fabrics. These products are often effective when using cold water. However, not all hand washing detergents are milder than regular laundry products although they are often more expensive. Properties to look for when using hand washing detergents include use in cold water, quick dissolving in cold water, and complete rinsing of the detergent after the wash.
   
• To test hand washing detergents or any detergent, dissolve recommended amount of detergent in a quart of cold water. Allow the detergent and water to sit for 24 hours. Note the residue, if any, in the bottom of the quart jar. This residue may be difficult to rinse out of your garment.
   
• Fabric softeners, both liquid and dryer sheets, add products to your fabrics. Some of the softeners are wax based which leaves a coating on the fibers creating a feel of softer but reducing the absorbency of the fiber. Some softeners have a perfume that is allergy related for many people. If you have ever used a fabric softener dryer sheet with your polyester garments, you may have seen "grease" spots appear on your garment. This is actually a wax and can be removed by re-washing.

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Visits for Jan to Mar 2009

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